An Introduction to Data Visualization and Its Benefits

What Is Data Visualization? 

When most people think of the word data, they typically imagine a chart or a graph of some sort. While this concept of data is not incorrect, the charts and graphs are the visual representation of the underlying data. Transforming your raw data into effective designs helps you analyze it and create actionable insights. So you can more quickly uncover trends, patterns and insights that would be difficult to see in raw form. It helps you assess the effectiveness of a campaign, make informed decisions and tell stories. 

So what is data visualization? Data visualization is the art of turning data into visuals in order to unveil the story within the data. In other words, data visualization is storytelling using data.

Data Visualization Benefits 

Now that we know what data visualization is, let's dive deeper into the benefits and explore why data visualization is such a valuable tool.

• SAVES TIME: One of the most significant advantages of data visualization is its ability to save time and scalability — meaning repeated reporting efforts can be consolidated and automated. By automating repetitive reporting tasks, you can consolidate information into a single dashboard and spend time analyzing and strategizing based on the data. This eliminates the extra time it takes for manual data manipulation and provides one central location for your key performance indicators (KPIs).

What would your team/company do with that extra time? Check out the Six Flags Case Study to see what saving 30-45 hours per week did for them. 

• ENHANCES DECISION MAKING: A byproduct of saving time is your ability to enhance decision-making for your business. When you identify, measure and visualize the KPIs for your business, you unlock the ability to view this data quickly and easily through multiple lenses. Since you don’t need to manually update the reports and can instead filter by attribution, campaign or region, you can make more informed decisions based on a larger set of information.

The improved speed-to-insights ratio can give you a competitive advantage over your competitors and allow you to be more agile, shifting with the industry and marketing needs. 

• SIMPLIFYING COMPLEX TOPICS: On top of having more data available to work with quickly and easily, data visualization makes your data much easier to understand. Instead of sifting through multiple datasets and lengthy tables, you’re able to see trends and patterns at a glance through charts and graphs. This visual storytelling makes it easier to comprehend complex topics and identify key actionable insights. It’s like adding pictures to books; the charts and graphs show the stories the underlying data tells us.

Data visualization can help promote trust in data and improve data accuracy. This gives peace of mind to analytics, reporting and data teams, and anyone using the data downstream. Once you enable the trust and accessibility of your data and establish peace of mind, you can apply more advanced modeling and methodologies.

• ACCESS & SCHEDULING: Do you send out an update each month? With data visualization tools you can schedule that new dashboard to send on a regular cadence, ensuring everyone has access to the latest information.
  • Want to limit who has access to these reports? Not a problem. Each data visualization platform has different methods that limit access, such as underlying data credentials or secure links.
  • Want to get data in the hands of analysts and marketers? Share access to data visualization and teach them to create custom reports for their niche needs. 

• FLEXIBILITY: Did you think data visualization was only for quarterly reports? Nope, you can use data visualization for various deliverables, like general investigations, exploratory analysis and data governance. Each platform is unique but they all have the flexibility to customize data and visuals to suit your needs.
  
  PRO TIP: You could create a tool to review and look at specific transaction IDs or products. Or you could curate a view to identify malformed data or flag inconsistencies like capitalizations or unexpected spacing.
   

How to Unlock the Power of Data Visualization 

Getting started might seem daunting, but you should start! A good first step is identifying specific areas where you need more visibility. Capitalizing on data visualization can start with pain points and putting pen to paper. You don’t have to be a data expert or data wizard with SQL to do that.

Some data visualization platforms have barriers to entry like licensing, but if you’ve got a Gmail account, you can create Looker Studio dashboards for free. Sign up for a Looker Studio account and connect to data sources you have access to like Google Analytics to start exploring now. 

When done correctly, data visualization can help organizations save time, improve efficiencies and gain more visibility into trends and performance across platforms by bringing data into one place. 

Once you build the database and core dashboards, there’s a lot of flexibility in what types of data visualizations you can create. Although it’s not difficult to get started, data visualization done well takes time, consideration and some help from data experts. 

What’s Next

In our next data visualization blog post, we’ll dive deeper into choosing the right data visualizations and avoiding common mistakes. Both are vital in ensuring your dashboards are adopted, used and continue to provide valuable insights. 

If you have any questions or would like to consult with one of our experts to get started with Adswerve, reach out to learn more. 

In the meantime, here are some next steps and topics to think about:

• Identify questions you want to answer & KPIs
• Identify data sources and what your organization uses
• Do you have experience with specific platforms?
• Have you worked with reports that you’ve liked? What about them did you like?
• Have you worked with reports you’ve disliked? What about them did you dislike?